The present invention relates to a module carrier structure for the front end of a vehicle.
An example of a prior art module carrier is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid Open Publication (Kokai) No. 63-312279. Components such as a radiator, a fan, and the condenser of an air conditioner are mounted in a front end panel of the vehicle. The front end panel (module carrier) is removably fixed by bolts or the like to the front portion of the main body of the vehicle during the assembly process.
Various electrical devices are usually incorporated in a front portion of the engine compartment and thus a wire harness for these various electrical devices must be arranged within the engine compartment. However, these devices are positioned where they are exposed to heat radiation from surrounding components such as the radiator for cooling the engine, the condenser of an air conditioner, an oil cooler, and a catalytic converter for the exhaust system. Further, a front end portion of the engine compartment is likely to deform when subjected to light or medium collisions. This raises the problem that it is extremely difficult to arrange the wire harness in such a manner that it is not damaged by the heat radiating from these hot components and the wiring thereof is not broken by such light or medium collisions.
During the construction of a conventional automobile body, the fitter who installs the piping, wire harness, and brake-force multiplying devices in the engine compartment has to bend over from the front-fender side of the vehicle, because the engine compartment has a box-like structure, and adopt a forced posture with arms extended from the top of the engine compartment. This makes the work of the fitter more laborious and, since the engine unit is conveyed into the engine compartment having an extremely limited working area, the assembly work thereof becomes difficult.